I fear I may have outsmarted myself....

[katharos]

...rather like Miles as I come to think about it.

So a few months back I feel completly in love with Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan saga, and set about getting my hands on the whole set. Unfortunatly only a few of them have been published in England - and out of order, wtf's with that? Amazon to the rescue. But a lot of the earlier books are out of print - and they weren't turning up cheap on Amazon marketplace.

So I hit upon I cunning plan. I would buy these big compendium novels priced at the cost of a single novel, thereby getting my hands on the outdated books. I wouldn't even lose out on any money by ending up with two copies of the same book - buying a second hand Vor Game, for example, was more expensive then buying the compendium that included the Vor Game. There was also the added bonus that each of the compendiums contained a novella from a previous collection called 'Borders of Infinity, so I was really getting 2 1/3 books for the price of one!

But now I've found out that those novella's were set in a larger narrative involving dialogue between Miles and his longsuffering, sarcstic superior Simon Ilyan! Which has been published no where else! *Cries*

Comments

[priestess-grrrl.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I think I remember being disappointed when I bought "Miles, Mystery and Mahem," only to find out that it was in fact a compendium with no new material in it. I hate when they do stuff like that, although I can understand why, I guess.

FYI I also found lots of new and used copies of Borders of Infinity on amazon.co.uk, here. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/202-7377790-2671800) Weirdly, none of the ISBN numbers listed are the same as the copy I have, so... not sure what to make of that, but you could always email the bookseller and ask specifically if it contains the whole narrative or not. Good luck!

BTW I forgot to mention http://www.abebooks.com/ - they are also very good. Have you read Lois' other books, the Chalion ones? I enjoyed them as well...

[katharos-8.livejournal.com]

Most of the amazon prices are over ten pounds - and since I've already bought most of the book, I really don't want to shell out that amount of money...

Yep, I've read the Chalion ones! Curse of Chalion was actually the first one of hers I read, and was what made me immediatly go on a mad hunt for absolutly everything else she'd written! I just... I loved the strong female characters who didn't need to 'act like a man,' to be extreme in order to be strong - they could be exrtremely strong within the culture they lived in. And I loved Cazaril. So very, very much, and I am severly dissapointed we haven't seen much more of him since.

[priestess-grrrl.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. *forgot about exchange rate*

I really liked Caz as a character too... It was cool where she went with the second book, but I kinda wished we'd gotten more of him as well. I love how she writes female characters too - in fact, I just love her characterizations in general. Really different, and really awesome.

BTW, doesn't Miles sort of remind you of Ed? Not just cuz they're both short, but in their "ready, steady go" "never give up" mentality, and, well, the fact that they're both short term personal heroes of mine... ^_^

[katharos-8.livejournal.com]

*Thinks* There similar in a way... but in other ways they're very very different. Ed is almost selfish in a way in his absolute focus on his brother. He's willing to do just about anything and everything for Al. Whereas while Miles DOES have people who he would give almost everything for... the only thing you can't give for your hearts desire is your heart. And Mile's heart is in far larger, more abstract things than Ed's and, in the end, he would sacrifice anyone for Barrayar, whereas Ed... I think (and it has been a while since I followed the manga) if it was a choice between Amstis and a sure and certain cure for Al, Ed would let Amestris go up in flames.